Lead Engineer H-1B salary at Best Buy — 36 certified filings (FY2016–FY2026)
- 14
- Filings · FY2025
- $161k
- Median base · FY2025
- $149k–$166k
- Middle 50% · FY2025
- +113%
- vs market median · all years
Best Buy filed 14 certified H-1B LCAs for Lead Engineer in FY2025, with a median base salary of $161k and the middle 50% of offers between $149k and $166k. Across all years its $159k median is 113% above the $75k market median for Lead Engineer. It has filed 36 Lead Engineer LCAs since FY2016, most often in Richfield, MN.
How much does Best Buy pay a Lead Engineer?
Certified base salary for Lead Engineer at Best Buy by fiscal year: each box is the p25–p75 range, the heavy line the median, the whiskers reach p10–p90. $161k median in FY2025. Base pay only — hover a year for its figures.
Does Best Buy pay Lead Engineers above the market?
Best Buy's all-years median against every employer's certified Lead Engineer LCAs — 113% above the market. Same cleaned DOL title, same base-salary definition, so the two rows compare like for like.
| Base salary for this title | Filings | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Best Buy | 36 | $159k |
| All employers · Lead Engineer | 11,358 | $75k |
How has Best Buy's Lead Engineer hiring changed by year?
1 certified Lead Engineer filings in FY2016 → 3 in FY2026. The change column is each year against the one before.
| Fiscal year | Filings | vs prior FY | Median base |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 3 | −79% | $162k |
| FY2025 | 14 | +40% | $161k |
| FY2024 | 10 | +67% | $159k |
| FY2023 | 6 | +200% | $149k |
| FY2021 | 2 | +100% | $124k |
| FY2016 | 1 | — | $120k |
Which wage levels does Best Buy file for Lead Engineer?
DOL prevailing-wage levels I–IV approximate experience tiers (I = entry, IV = fully competent). 93% of Best Buy's Lead Engineer filings sit at Level III–IV. Higher levels earn more entries in the wage-weighted H-1B lottery.
Share of 27 Lead Engineer filings with a wage level · all years
- Level II7.4%2
- Level IV92.6%25
Where does Best Buy hire H-1B Lead Engineers?
Worksite states and cities on the certified filings for this title, all years, with the median base salary at each.
| State | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 32 | $159k |
| Washington | 2 | $178k |
| California | 1 | $170k |
| Georgia | 1 | $134k |
| City | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Richfield, MN | 32 | $159k |
| Seattle, WA | 2 | $178k |
| Atlanta, GA | 1 | $134k |
| Corona, CA | 1 | $170k |
Also filed as
Best Buy's other sponsored titles, and the employers that file the most Lead Engineer LCAs. All years.
Other titles at Best Buy
| Job title | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer II | 107 | $129k |
| Senior Software Engineer | 68 | $153k |
Top Lead Engineer sponsors
| Employer | Filings | Median base |
|---|---|---|
| Wipro | 9,246 | $73k |
| Target Enterprise | 404 | $131k |
| Hinduja Tech | 82 | $77k |
| Transunion | 62 | $99k |
| Gavs Technologies N A | 55 | $85k |
| Eaton | 53 | $116k |
| Quest Global Services - N A | 49 | $81k |
| Brillio | 44 | $107k |
| Quest Global Services - NA | 32 | $66k |
Common questions about Lead Engineer H-1B pay at Best Buy
- How much does Best Buy pay a Lead Engineer on an H-1B?
- Best Buy's median certified H-1B base salary for Lead Engineer is $161k in FY2025, from 14 filings; the middle 50% of offers fall between $149k and $166k. Across all years the median is $159k.
- How many Lead Engineer H-1B LCAs has Best Buy filed?
- Best Buy has 36 certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications for Lead Engineer on record (FY2016–FY2026), 3 of them in FY2026. That is 4% of its 1,018 certified filings across all titles.
- Does Best Buy pay Lead Engineers above the market?
- Best Buy's all-years median of $159k is 113% above the $75k median for Lead Engineer across all H-1B employers (11,358 certified filings).
- Where does Best Buy hire H-1B Lead Engineers?
- Best Buy's Lead Engineer LCAs name worksites mostly in Minnesota, Washington, California; the top cities are Richfield, MN, Seattle, WA, Atlanta, GA.
- Does a certified LCA mean an H-1B visa was approved?
- No. A Labor Condition Application (LCA) is the Department of Labor attestation an employer must have certified before filing an H-1B petition with USCIS. It records the job, worksite and offered wage, but not whether the petition was filed, selected in the lottery, or approved. Filing counts measure intent to sponsor, not headcount.
- What salary do these figures show?
- The base annual wage offered on the certified LCA, converted to a yearly amount. Bonus, equity, overtime and benefits are not included, so total compensation is typically higher. Figures are medians and percentiles over certified filings; wages above $5,000,000 a year are excluded as data-entry errors.
- What do prevailing-wage levels I–IV mean?
- The Department of Labor assigns each LCA an OES wage level from I (entry) to IV (fully competent) for the occupation and area. Under the FY2027 wage-weighted H-1B lottery rule, a higher level earns more selection entries, so an employer's level mix is a proxy for how senior its sponsored roles are.
Keep exploring
Calculate your H-1B lottery odds →orCheck out the insights →
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification — certified LCA disclosure data through June 2026 (FY2016–FY2026). An LCA is not an approved visa; pay figures are base salary and exclude bonus and equity. Methodology →